Safe and Sound
by jakelsx
Summary: .troyella. Then he went to sleep, still keeping the phone in his hand.


**Safe and Sound**

**---**

_In hotels we are only voices  
Kept safe and sound in phone lines  
The distance makes the stronger weaken  
So many days we'll never know_

_-Safe and Sound in Phone Lines by A Change of Pace_

They'd been living this way for a while.

She was over in New Haven, living her academic and utterly… smart life.

He was back in New Mexico, studying public relations and playing basketball. He was living a rather drudge-ful life.

He sulked in his small apartment everyday. When his friends came over, they would always ask why there was a lone picture in his room. The picture was a hint that there was an actual human being living in that room.

The picture, undoubtedly, was of Gabriella. It was the only thing that stood out in his room because the rest of his room was one color: white. It was practically like living in an insane asylum. He would look at the picture from across the room. Then he would lay on his bed, prop his hand under his chin and stare at it. Then he would lay it on his bed next to him and stare at it. He imagined her there.

Imagined.

He called her almost every week but it was still painful to know he would have to say good bye.

"_Hi Troy_," she would say, immediately knowing that it was him.

"How was your day?" he would ask.

Then she would tell about the weird, boring teacher picking on some innocent kid or how she found a strange substance in her food today.

Then he would laugh and share about his day.

There would be an awkward silence.

And then they exchanged "I love you"s and hung up.

It's not like he wanted to hang up. His male mind couldn't think of anything else to say.

He hadn't seen her in two years. Sure, there were breaks but they were always busy. Maybe she would have a huge exam the day after a three day weekend or maybe he had training over winter break. She had spent last summer in Europe with her mother. He stayed in Albuquerque. They didn't get mad at each other though. They understood. Sometimes, he got impatient and would throw mini tantrums in his apartment but then his eyes would catch her picture again. He would suddenly change moods and cry on his bed, missing her.

She didn't have it any easier. She, being the sensitive, smart, and shy girl she was, stuck with her studies. She didn't go outside unless it was to get some groceries or jog. When she got back to her dorm room, she would eat alone. Her roommate was often out with her boyfriend. Not only that, when her roommate was home, she would drill Gabriella about not having a boyfriend. Gabriella would smile solemnly and continue reading.

When she was finished studying or just plain tired, she would go to bed early. She would get in some sweats, crawl in her bed, and try to go to sleep. Most of the time, she couldn't. She would have a desire to grab the high school yearbook gnawing at her. She would try to remember his face without any cheat sheets. Sometimes, she couldn't.

------

Troy got ready to have a nice hot bowl of Campbell's instant soup and watch TV one lonely Friday night. He grabbed his dinner and plopped on the couch, turning on the TV.

He saw the scariest thing in his life.

"We have just got in…" the anchor woman said. "We've just been told there was a shooting." The lady on the TV looked like she was about to cry. "There's been a shooting at Yale University."

Troy put down his soup as for his sudden loss of appetite. His heart dropped to his stomach as he turned the volume higher.

"There were two gunmen. Fifty dead, and twelve severely wounded. The shooting was five hours ago and… the gunmen have killed themselves," the woman continued. Troy quickly turned off his TV and picked up his phone. He dialed Gabriella's number.

It ran eleven times.

She didn't pick up.

Tears started running down his face. He dialed her number again and again.

Nothing.

His hands were shaking.

He returned to his room to check his email. Just to see if she'd sent him something telling him that she'd be out of town for that day. Oh, God, please.

Nothing.

He turned on the news again, only to find that they had a limited amount of information at the moment and they'd moved on to the latest on "staying thin". He sunk to the floor and cried.

Oh, God.

Please, God.

Help.

---

He waited by the phone the whole day.

Then he went to sleep, still keeping the phone in his hand.

He waited another whole day.

He stank. He hadn't shaved. His eyes had bags. He looked dead.

With every minute, his breaths grew more and more ragged. Paranoia attacked his brain.

His eyes shot to the phone when it finally rang. He frantically picked it up. "Hello?" he almost shouted.

"_Troy, I need you_," her voice flooded his ears.

He paused for a moment.

"I'm coming," he said. She hung up the phone as he hurried to his "secret stash". He grabbed enough to pay for a round trip to New Haven and back. He took his bag and threw in his jacket and a toothbrush and ran out the door.

The airport lady looked at Troy curiously when he asked for the first flight to New Haven. It left in ten minutes. He paid for his ticket and hustled to the terminal.

On the plane, he fiddled with the small piece of paper that had her room number on it. She'd given it to him two years ago. Two years.

He couldn't sleep. The black all around him in the plane let him think. He couldn't help but to stifle a few cries during the five hour flight.

When they landed, he was the first one to squeeze through everyone in the plane and run out the door. It was three o'clock in the morning. He hadn't eaten or showered in days. But his determination was greater than ever.

He caught the first cab that came by and asked the driver to take him to Yale University as soon as possible. The driver only nodded.

He tipped the driver and hurried to the office. He ignored some security guards shouting at him. "Please, I'm here to see my girlfriend. She-She's in room…" Troy stumbled. He squinted at the paper but his eyes were too blurry. He handed to attendant to paper. The man nodded and told the security guards who Troy was and where he was going.

When they reached the far end of the school where Gabriella's dorm was located, the security guards patted him down before letting him inside the building. He ran faster than he'd ever run before and reached the fourth floor in two minutes tops. His eyes followed the numbers glued to the doors and found hers. He paused.

Without any second thought, he turned the unlocked doorknob and stepped inside.

It was dark. There were almost no lights on at all. The window was open so he made out a line of moonlight on the wall. It was like he stepped outside again.

He tried to spot anything familiar inside the room but he really couldn't see anything. "Gabri-" he was interrupted by her lips crashing on his.

She was waiting by the door the entire night, waiting for him. He came.

Her hands were around his face as she frantically kissed him. His lips felt so good… she hadn't kissed him in such a long time. She felt one of his hands travel to the small of her back and the other to her neck. When she pulled away, she could see his eyes glistening in the sliver of moonlight that entered the room.

She smiled. She smiled and tangled her hands in his shorter hair. He could feel her breath on his neck. "Hi," he said.

"Hi," she returned. She ran her hand over his face, feeling the features that had escaped her long ago. "Oh, God," she whispered. He enjoyed her touch; he didn't mind.

He could only hold on to her. He pulled her into a tight hug and stroked her head, breathing harder than ever. She gripped onto his jacket for dear life.

When they pulled apart, still holding on to each other, she ran her thumb along his jaw. "You need to shave," she said, smile brightening the room.

He laughed thickly. "I know," he said. Then he remembered why he didn't shave in the first place. His eyes suddenly went wide and his hands flew to her face. "Are you alright?"

Gabriella closed her eyes.

"Gabriella?"

When she opened her eyes again, she softly smiled. "Let's not talk about it."

He nodded, falling under her trance.

"You need to shave."

He nodded again, mouth slightly open. She held his hand and led him out the door. "I'm driving," she said.

He smiled.

------

Troy took a shower and shaved, changing into the sweats that he left at her place a long time ago. "These clothes smell like you," he whispered. The four o'clock morning air hung around them. He didn't want to break that silent balance.

"It's because they've been with me for all this time," she said. She climbed into bed and closed her eyes.

"Wait you're not just going to fall asleep on me, are you?" he asked. He quietly climbed into her bed too. He wrapped his arm around her and that was when he realized that she was crying.

"I still hear it," she said into his shirt.

"Hear what?"

"The gunshots." She gripped him and buried her face into his chest. "He's here, he's here, he's here."

"Gabriella," he said, starting to worry. "Gabi."

"No, lock the door." Tears were coming down her face. Troy sat up and watched her.

Her hair was all over the place. Her eyes were bloodshot. She looked worse did he did. She was turning her head from the window to the door to her desk to Troy to the ceiling……

He leaned forward and wrapped his arms around her. She was bawling now, unable to stop if she wanted to.

-----

He was still awake. He hadn't slept in three days, why start now? Her head was on his naked chest and her legs were tangled in his. The sheets lay peacefully on top of them keeping the cold, depressing feelings of the last week.

He would move to Yale, take care of her.

She would get an apartment and they would share the rent.

If only their voices were safe and sound. If only it would ever go back to normal.

* * *

**AN://** That kinda lost it's "pow" in the end. I had my muse when I started it but then I ate lunch and then lost it. Must've swallowed it or something.

**Disclaimer**- don't own HSM or A Change of Pace.

please leave a review if you have the time, eh? feedback on this really debateble one-shot...thing would be nice.


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